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Speaker Boehner Urges Full Repeal of ObamaCare to Protect Jobs

July 11, 2012|Speaker Boehner's Press Office

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today urged his colleagues to heed the will of the American people and vote to fully repeal the president’s health care law, which is driving up costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire new workers. Following are Speaker Boehner’s floor remarks:

“I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6079, legislation to repeal the president’s health care law. When this bill passed, we were promised this health care law would lower costs and help create jobs … one congressional leader even suggested it would create 400,000 new jobs. Guess what? It didn’t happen. It is making our economy worse, driving up costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire new workers.

“The American people were told that they’d come to like this bill once it passed. Didn’t happen either. Most Americans not only oppose this law – they support repealing it.

“The American people were told taxes on the middle class wouldn’t go up if this bill passed. Well guess what? There are 21 tax increases in this health care law, and at least a dozen of them hit the middle class.

“Let me give you just a glimpse of the damage that all these tax hikes will do to our economy. A tax on health insurance providers will end up costing up to 249,000 jobs, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. A tax on health care manufacturers will put at as many as 47,100 jobs in jeopardy, according to one nonpartisan estimate.

“Then you’ve got the employer mandate, which will affect every job creator with 50 or more employees. Take White Castle, a company in my home state. They say that the employer mandate would eat up most of their net income starting in 2014. That’s on account of just one provision in the law. And there is the individual mandate that the Supreme Court has now ruled is a massive tax. The Congressional Budget Office says roughly 20 million Americans will either have to pay this tax or be forced to buy insurance that they wouldn’t have purchased.

“Add it all up, and the tax increases in this health care law will take at least $675 billion out of our pockets over the next 10 years. All this at a time when employers are just trying to get by.

“There’s a better way – that’s why we’re here. Americans want a step-by-step approach that protects their access to the care that they need, from the doctor they choose, at a lower cost. They certainly didn’t ask for this government takeover that has helped put us in the mess we are in today.

“At the beginning of this Congress, the House voted to repeal the president’s health care law. That was our Pledge to America, and we kept it. Unfortunately, our colleagues in the Senate refused to follow suit. Since then, we’ve made some bipartisan progress on repealing parts of this harmful health care law – including the 1099 paperwork mandate. But this law continues to make our economy worse … there’s even more resolve to see that it is fully repealed.

“I think this is an opportunity to save our economy. For those who still support repealing this harmful health care law, we’re giving our colleagues in the Senate another chance to heed the will of the American people. For those who did not support repeal last time, it’s a chance for our colleagues to reconsider. For all of us, it’s a chance to do the right thing for the country.”